In July of 2009, my husband and I purchased our first home together, along with our now 2 year old daughter. About a month later, we decided to go ahead and get cable and internet installed. My husband doesn't make alot of money, and I only work part time for minimum wage, since I spend most of my days tending to our home and our child. I decided to go ahead with purchasing basic cable and internet, with the price of roughly $60 per month. Not a terrible deal, or so I thought.

In early September of 2009, my family and I were victims of home invasion. It was pretty late during the night. I was awake, my husband and daughter were asleep. The man came into our living room, and before I could think, he had me on the ground. I was punched in the head, had a bunch of my hair pulled out, and managed to break one of my fingers while trying to defend myself. My husband rushed out of our bedroom when he heard my screams and managed to pull the man off of me. Once the intruder left me alone, he went for our TV, which had the cable box hooked up to it. He ripped everything from the wall, and made his way for our front door, all the while threatening to shoot me and my family. We had to let him go out of fear for our lives. The police were called when he was gone. They came, did what they had to do, and also took down a report about the crime.

The next day, I immediately contacted Mediacom customer service to explain the situation, and to ask what should be done. They told me I was going to be charged $300 to replace the stolen cable box, as well as $7.50 per month for the original box, AND my normal bill. I figured there wasn't much I could do about it. End of story? Wrong. A supervisor calls back the same day to tell me that the price of the cable box was a mistake, that I was actually going to be charged $350. Of course, I was irrate, to say the least. A couple of days after THAT, the same supervisor calls me again to tell me that the final price of the cable box is $450. I was beyond livid at this point. It was beyond me how they couldn't know the prices of their own equipment. My husband and I spent the next couple of weeks debating whether or not we should file a claim on our home owner's insurance. Only problem with that, is that we have a $1,000 deductable.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I contacted customer service to see what could be done about making a possible payment arrangement, since very few people could pay THAT big of an unexpected bill at one time. I was informed on the phone that I couldn't make any sort of payment arrangement until after Nov. 7th; when my account was delinquint. But I was told not to worry about it, that arrangements could be made, and to call back after Nov. 7th. I did as instructed, calling back on Nov. 9th, after the weekend had passed. I was given a phone number from a customer service rep. to call that dealt with bill collections. I called the number, explained the gory details of the situation to the person on the phone, and asked for payment arrangements. I was then told my bill was NOW up to over $530 from the late fees I incurred. He said that since my account has now over $500 due, I'm not allowed to make any sort of payment arrangements, and that the bill is due in full by the end of November before my cable and internet gets shut off. I asked, politely, to speak with a supervisor.

The supervisor I spoke with was the only semi-helpful person I spoke with at this point. She said that they normally CAN'T make payment arrangements for accounts over $500, but she can make exceptions. I also asked why I was being charged so much for the cable box to begin with. She explained to me that the prices for their cable boxes range from $300 - $450. I was being charged $450 for a cable box with DVR. One problem; I didn't have DVR. I had BASIC CABLE, so my box was actually a $300 one. She told me that I'd have to call customer service AGAIN to argue about what type of box I had. And once that was cleared up, instead of paying my normal bill of $60 per month, I'd have to pay around $120 per month minimum. This is beyond my budget.

After I got off the phone with her, I once again contacted customer service and asked to speak with a supervisor. I was put on hold, and 4 minutes later, was disconnected without ever speaking to anyone. I immediately called back, received a different customer service rep., and once again asked to speak with a supervisor. 6 minutes later, the customer service rep. told me that there wasn't a supervisor available that I could speak with, and that he would transfer me back to the collections department. He said that they might have better luck getting a supervisor from customer service on the phone. I agreed, and he transfered me.

A lady from collections answers, and I explained why I was transferred. She told me that she doesn't know why they would do that, and that she would have to transfer me BACK to customer service. I get ANOTHER new customer service rep. She puts me on hold for about 5 minutes, and informs me that all the supervisors are busy. She took my name and phone number down, and the reason for my call. I was told I'd get a call back yesterday. Still, nothing.

I can tell you one thing... they can keep their service. And they aren't getting a single dime out of me, if I can help it. I'm already contacting my local media about it.

I am absolutely appalled at the way I've been treated like a piece of garbage. It's truly shameful how they can sit there and treat victims of violence like their idiots.

I have a constant fear of being home by myself now since the incident. The police haven't even caught the guy. And on top of it, Mediacom is taking full advantage of the situation to put the whole thing in their benefit. It's truly disgusting. Something needs to be done immediately about their business practices.

I really hope they enjoy what they do for a living; robbing people of their money and their sanity.

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AUTHOR: MediacomJoel - (USA)

SUBMITTED: Thursday, November 12, 2009

POSTED: Thursday, November 12, 2009

Nikki,

I am TERRIBLY sorry to read your story, and let me apologize on behalf of Mediacom! Given the situation, there is no reason you should've been treated the way you've written. Please give me the opportunity to fix this and bring some peace to you and your family. My email address is joconnell@mediacomcc.com - I want to personally correct this! I look forward to hearing from you!!

AUTHOR: Inspector - (USA)

What type of contract did you sign and what was stated in it about theft of their property? It was probably covered under your home insurance.

Why are you deciding whether or not to file an insurance claim? Even if there is a deductible you can deduct it from your taxes.

It is a terrible thing to hear about your misfortune with the intruder but, if someone was attacking my wife and I walked in, that person would not be leaving the house on two legs, and I'm not a big person.